Winemaker Notes
The 2021 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay has concentration that is quite impressive, aromatics that are beautifully pronounced and the balance of the wine is bright and engaging. This is an incredibly complex vintage that can be truly enjoyed now or have the potential to age well.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The medium yellow 2021 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast offers aromas of hay, yellow pear, and delicate toast. Medium-bodied, with good driving acidity and citrus notes of Meyer lemon, crunchy green apple, and fresh herbs, this is a snappy and mouthwatering wine to drink over the next several years.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A vast appellation covering Sonoma County’s Pacific coastline, the Sonoma Coast AVA runs all the way from the Mendocino County border, south to the San Pablo Bay. The region can actually be divided into two sections—the actual coastal vineyards, marked by marine soils, cool temperatures and saline ocean breezes—and the warmer, drier vineyards further inland, which are still heavily influenced by the Pacific but not quite with same intensity.
Contained within the appellation are the much smaller Fort Ross-Seaview and Petaluma Gap AVAs.
The Sonoma Coast is highly regarded for elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and, increasingly, cool-climate Syrah. The wines have high acidity, moderate alcohol, firm tannin, and balanced ripeness.